Is your Mac Studio emitting a high-pitched noise?

[BobK]

Any fellow Motunation members getting a high-pitched noise from your Mac Studios?

Mac Rumors covered it in an article on April 28. Here's link to the forum, where the story is the first post.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/ma ... e.2343201/

The ring is around 2.2k, but it's not a pure tone.

Here are some YouTube videos showing it:

Spectrum analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO07_k3mors

Spectrogram analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KReBC6aujKA

Another spectrogram analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AENEKogR1tM

My M1 Max Mac Studio (64GB RAM) has it intermittently. It's not loud, but it's very distracting.

I've reached out to Apple twice, and both experiences were awful.

I took it to the Apple store a couple weeks ago. Long story short, it passed the hardware test, then they wiped the drive and reinstalled the OS. As I expected, this didn't help.

When the Apple tech called me before wiping the drive, I asked "Do you hear the sound?" After hemming and hawing, he said "yes."

But when I picked it up the next day, I noticed that in the work order on the "Genius's" iPad, it said that they'd tested for the sound by playing a YouTube video, even though I'd taken pains to explain that the issue seemed related to the fans and had nothing to do with the speaker.

Today I called Apple and spoke to a "Senior Advisor." Long story short, at one point he said the sound was normal, then a few minutes later he offered to make me another appointment to bring it in again. Huh?

By this time I was so confused by his convoluted attempts to dodge the problem that I didn't think to ask Why are you suggesting I bring it in if the problem is normal?

He said the whine was related to higher fan speeds as a result of more CPU or GPU use, and that the mere act of playing a YouTube video would be enough to get the fans revved up.

That's absurd, of course; I've never been able to get the fans revved up with a DP or Pro Tools Project (though I don't have any particularly demanding ones).

And if he'd paid attention to the videos, he would have seen that the whine occurs at the default speed and lower speeds too.

Anybody have this issue? It's a shame, because absent the whine, the fans are inaudible for all practical purposes.

[HCMarkus]

Some report the fan noise as an issue. Others do not experience it.

I have an Ultra; no whine when I was testing it prior to installation, but my Mac is now in a machine closet, so I haven't heard a thing lately... it really doesn't matter for my application.

I believe you can return the Mac within 30 days.

Or you can build a baffle or iso box. Since these Macs produce such little heat, ventilation is much less of an issue than it was for Intel machines.

[BobK]

Some report the fan noise as an issue. Others do not experience it.

I know - that's why I asked. And I read the MacRumors thread and YT comments.

I believe you can return the Mac within 30 days.

I'm long past that.

Or you can build a baffle or iso box. Since these Macs produce such little heat, ventilation is much less of an issue than it was for Intel machines.

Yes, of course. I used to place my computers in a closet. But since I'm no longer using spinning drives except for backups, and since the Mac Studio is so efficient and, as Apple advertises it, "whisper quiet", isolation shouldn't be necessary, IMO. Plus, having the computer within arm's reach is convenient.

The large Noctua fan in my Hackintosh and the small Noctua I installed in my OWC Thunderbay 4 Mini are virtually silent.

Apple can and should do better - especially with a relatively costly machine aimed at creatives.

[HCMarkus]

So, you either fight with Apple to get a replacement or you are stuck with what you've got. Assuming you'd rather get to work, time to take steps to remedy the situation so you can work the way you want to.

Depending on your setup, it is very possible your Mac fan output is facing a reflective wall. Based on your desire for the computer to be nearby, I'd first suggest you try a baffle with some foam or fiberglass facing the Mac. 2k is a lot easier to absorb than lower frequencies. Don't let them reflect back at you.

If you need to go further, an iso box will take care of the problem.

EDIT: Also might want to install Macs Fan Control and try varying fan speed... slower or faster could resolve.

[cuttime]

My Max is dead silent and always has been. I'm sorry to hear you are having this problem, as I have read a great deal about this since the beginning. There were quite a few Reddit posts from people who said the sound dissipates after a while. Perhaps give it a wait? There is also a lot of speculation as to what actually causes the sound: some say it is the fan, and others say it is some kind of inductive noise from a coil in the power supply.

I have never been able to push the machine to rev up the fan, certainly not with audio work, but when experimenting with processor intensive graphics programs I could get the machine to warm up just a tad, but still remain silent.

I know that this is not much help at hand, but given the fact that so many people are experiencing this problem, and Apple's track record on such things (butterfly keyboards, for instance), I suspect Apple will acknowledge the problem and offer a fix somewhere down the road.

[James Steele]

I have an M1 Max Mac Studio and no issue like that so far thankfully.

[wylie1]

I have an M1 Max Mac Studio and no issue like that so far thankfully.

Same here and I have an extremely quite room other than the front LED I would even know it was on.
Hope you get it sorted out.